Empowering Education - Connections

In this article, Ira Shor argues that students should be active in their classrooms at all times by participating and being given the chance to think critically. Most classrooms now a days are filled with repetition, memorization, and questions with only one specific correct answer. Students are taught to fill in the blank and circle the right letter in order to be successful and pass their class. Shore states that teachers need to start teaching their students how to think for themselves and let them get involved in class discussions because, believe it or not, students can learn from each other.
As I was reading this article, of course the first things that popped into my head were the readings from Finn and Oakes that we came across a couple of weeks ago. Finn and Oakes wrote about how kids in higher ability classrooms get a better education and experience in schools because they are encouraged to think critically and they are not ridiculed by the fill in the blank quizzes and worksheets. Children who are taught to think for themselves and different possibilities have a better chance of having a successful future both academically and financially.
"Students in empowering classes should be expected to develop skills and knowledge as well as high expectations for themselves, their education, and their futures... empowering education invites students to become skilled workers and thinking citizens."
Giroux says that schools need to be a "public service that educates students to be critical citizens who can think, challenge, take risks, and believe that their actions will make a difference in the larger society."
Students who have been challenged in school to become critical and creative thinkers do no only benefit themselves, but also their society and the world. One who had been trained to come up with multiple answers and possibilities can really make a difference.
I also thought that this article related well to what Delpit taught us in the beginning of the semester. Not so much about being explicit when it comes to having authority, but more towards teaching the codes of power. She taught us that the most important thing one can teach a child is how to survive and be successful in this world and in whatever type of society we live in. Shore believes the same thing. He quotes from Bettelheim that "the most important thing children learn is not the three R's. It's socialization."
Sure, algebra chemistry will come in handy one day, but not as much as the knowledge students get about how to be a successful, respected, and critical citizen.
I really like this article that I found because it includes a clear list of what a teacher's curriculum should include in order to give their students the empowering education they deserve. It shows why teachers should teach "responsible decision-making," "relationship skills," "social awareness," and "self-awareness."
In class, I kind of want to argue about how part of this article somewhat contradicts Delpit. I related it to her but I also think the two disagree. I'm not sure if I'm just reading it the wrong way.

Promising Practices Conference Experience

Prior to arriving at the Promising Practices Conference, I was kind of nervous because I had never attended anything like this before so I had no idea what was in store for me. As soon as I walked in the Don, I could tell that it was very organized and I knew right away where I was supposed to go and what to do. Our entire class found each other and we all sat at a few close tables in the back. After that, I felt comfortable because I was with people I knew and I wasn't the only one experiencing something new. 

My first workshop was on LGBT Harassment and, even though we've been discussing this topic in class already, I was still very interested and I loved it. My presenter was great. She definitely had my attention the entire time I was there and she couldn't have been any sweeter - not to mention, she brought a stuffed giraffe with her, which made my day ten times better from the start. The giraffe represented confidence in children; giraffes have long necks, so they stand up tall, just like people do when they stand up for themselves and for what they believe in. I thought that was great and really inspiring. 

While in this workshop, we watched parts of the videos "It's Elementary" and "It's Still Elementary", which I had already seen in FNED, but I enjoyed watching them again. It really reenforced how important it is to be able to teach children of any age about this type of diversity and the differences that appear in our world. 

I also found this great site that is actually directed towards parents about how to help their children deal with this type of harassment. One thing I learned is that nothing is more important to a child that is going through that kind of emotional abuse than a parent's help and support.

This workshop actually ties in extremely well with Dennis Carlson's "Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community" because he writes about how homosexuals are not accepted and are viewed as completely abnormal to many people. Reading part of his book and taking part in this workshop has made me realize that there is still so much hostility present in our world. As long as there are still people among us who refuse to accept any differences, issues such as LGBT harassment, which is often fatal, will never be fixed. 

I also thought it connected very well with "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" by Linda Christensen because homosexuals would not be seen as different and abnormal if there was never a set social norm in the first place. If all of these myths about "what makes you beautiful" and "what makes you 'perfect'" were never even invented and thrown into the minds of everyone through the media, everyone would be accepted equally. 

My second workshop was, unfortunately, not as rewarding as my first. It was on problem solving in mathematics and, honestly, I wasn't really impressed with the presentation. I didn't feel like I had learned anything new to walk away with. One thing I did like was that the presenters made it a point to give a few examples on how to incorporate diversity in different math problems to make sure that every student in the class would understand it and be able to connect with it. I found this interesting and very important because we never know who we might have in a classroom. As a math minor, though, I feel like I didn't get enough out of the workshop than I would have liked to.

I found this interesting math site that includes different problem solving strategies and some steps and clues on what to do next when it comes to math problems. It things like this that I would have liked to learn more about during the workshop. 

As for the keynote speaker, I have a ton of respect of Dr. Dennis Shirley seeing as he did come to RI all the way from Chile just to attend our conference. However, as much as I would have loved to, I felt it was nearly impossible for me, personally, to be able to pay full attention during the entire presentation. It was lengthy and it seemed as if it was only directed toward the teachers that were sitting right in front of the podium. I felt as if the students in the back were disconnected from the rest of the audience, which definitely made it harder to concentrate on what he was saying. 

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at my first teacher's conference and I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to go to many more and keep learning. I like that it was part of a class assignment because it was very rewarding and I'm glad I went. 

Oakes and Finn: Extended Comment

Katie's Post:

Quotes from Finn and Oakes

As I read the two articles for this week I tried to keep Dr. Bogad's words in mind, "can separate be equal?" I found that unlike the Brown v. Board case, where I could firmly say that separate was not equal, I could not come to a definitive answer on either side of the issue of tracking students in public schools.

Starting with Oakes, Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route, I found myself going back in forth between arguing that schools should group students into different levels to arguing that it is harmful to students to do so.
Oakes writes,

"Tracking leads to substantial differences in the day-to-day learning experiences students have at school. Moreover, the nature of these differences suggests that students who are placed in high-ability groups have access to far richer schooling experiences than other students." 

I’ll draw from my own experiences to comment on this quote. In my own school, Math, English and Science classes were broken up into high, middle, and lower level groups. When I was in honors classrooms I did much better than when I was in inclusive classrooms because the teachers spent less time on discipline, we went at a faster pace, and I was motivated to keep up with the other students. In my regular classes I was bored easily, distracted, and less challenged. While on the one hand I think it would be beneficial for previously labeled lower level students to be in classrooms with highly motivated students, I worry that it might drag the material behind for the students who are moving faster.

I enjoyed reading Finn’s experience growing up and teaching in urban Chicago schools in, Literacy with an Attitue but when he described the feelings of some of his graduate students, I must say that I had to agree with them,


"When I suggest to my hard-bitten students that poor children are not being as well educated as they could be, they are not amused. They take it as a personal attack from someone who has been living in in ivory tower for the last thirty years and they resent it—a lot"

Finn describes the only 8 years he ever spent teaching in public schools as being the wrong way to go about it (militant-like, not challenging) and then went to graduate school where he changed his perspective. But he never describes how he personally implemented his new teaching method theory. Considering how difficult these teachers in urban areas seem to have it, if he hadn’t tried these ideas on his own I probably wouldn’t listen to him either.

I think the best quote from Finn was about students in working class areas and schools systems,

"Their capacity for creativity and planing was ignored or denied. Their response was very much like that of adults in their community to work that is mechanical and routine."
I am a firm supporter in social justice opportunities for underprivileged students and I think it is horrible that teachers significantly lower their expectations and materials to those children who deserve a good education. That being said, I also think it is unfair to punish highly motivated students by giving them less attention because they somehow, “don’t need it” and this is the unfair attitude that these authors seem to suggest.

If you are interested in social justice and equitable education, I suggested looking to books by Louise Dunlap: Undoing the SilenceI met and worked with her at a teaching conference two years ago and found it to be a great experience.

I’m interested to hear what the rest of the class thought of these articles and the conference. Do you think schools school segregate based on GPA and perceived abilities of students?

My Response:

I was very interested in the points that Katie made in her blog about Finn and Oakes. I like that she brought up the line "can separate be equal" because all of the readings we have done in this class have shown some sort of separation that, in turn, prevents equity in our society. The topic that these readings focus on is the idea of tracking in schools. Separating students into different classes and levels according to their ability and performances - does that sound anything close to equal to you? 

Like Katie, I can personally relate to these thoughts on tracking and the quote that she pulled from Oakes' text: 

"Tracking leads to substantial differences in the day-to-day learning experiences students have at school. Moreover, the nature of these differences suggests that students who are placed in high-ability groups have access to far richer schooling experiences than other students." 

I experienced this happening in my own high school as well. All of the "standard", or general education, classes are split up and broken down into Honors, First Level, Second Level, and Third Level (the Third Level classes are not considered college prep classes. In other words, if a student is in this class level, he/she is not eligible to go on to College after high school). The majority of my classes were Honors classes, all except my history class, which was a level one. Switching down from an Honor's history class was my choice because I had always struggled in that subject, and when I did, I realized that there was a significant difference in the two levels. My honors classes continued to move at a much faster pace while the level one class seemed to be taken a lot less seriously by both the teacher and the students. Switching out of my honor's class was even greatly discouraged by my counselor and teachers when, honestly, it shouldn't have made a difference. 

The fact that students are getting different learning experiences depending on what level they are in schools does not promote equality. The classes students take are highly publicized which makes it really easy for false judgements to be made about those students as well as lack acceptance for them. 

As Oakes stated in his article: "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" and there is no better way to put it. Students with high academic capability will continue to be praised and receive better opportunities for education, and those who may tend to fall behind will continue to fall further and further behind and may never be able to catch up. 

I found a video in which Jeannie Oakes actually talks about why she disagrees with tracking. Dr. Robert Slavin states that teachers only use the tracking method as a convenience to them. Flexible grouping, meaning that students are not trapped in the same groups at all times, is also highly encouraged in this video.

I would like to hear about any other experiences that anyone has had in their previous schools. Do most schools have this tracking strategy in place? How do we all feel about it?